Turtle bowls rivals over

Turtle Bowl survived a stewards’ inquiry to keep the Prix Jean Prat at Chantilly today with the Mick Channon-trained Rocamadour running a great race in third place.

Olivier Peslier brought the 9-2 winner with a devastating late run down the outside in the Group One contest, but did Irish raider Ad Valorem no favours in the process.

Kieren Fallon was forced to snatch up Aidan O’Brien’s challenger just as he was getting his run together, with Michael Stoute’s Home Affairs also involved in the incident.

Peslier, who had earlier won the Group Three Prix Du Bois on Gwenseb, caught long-time leader Rocamadour and then held the late thrust of Starpix by a length.

Rocamadour, ridden by Ted Durcan, was just edged into third place ahead of Home Affairs, with Ad Valorem fifth.

The race had been moved from its historical position on French Derby day and its distance was cut from nine furlongs to a mile.

The big disappointment was France’s top two-year-old colt from last year Helios Quercus, who never got going and finished seventh.

Winning trainer Francois Rohaut admitted he was relieved to keep the race, but felt Home Affairs had caused the trouble and not his own horse.

“He won well, but I am going to rest him for a while as I don’t see the Prix Jacques Le Marois as a viable option because Divine Proportions is top class,” he said.

“I will bring him back in September, when the Prix du Moulin could be an option.”

Starpix’s trainer Jean-Claude Rouget added: “Our ambition was for a place and we got it, hich is great. We may think about the Jacques Le Marois, but it is one of many possibilities.”